In a recent article by the Daily Telegraph, they reported that new research at Reading University is being conducted on aircraft to develop a sophisticated in-flight surveillance system to help see/predict any possible acts of terrorism.

A combination of cameras, microphones, explosive sniffers and a sophisticated computer system will be used to indicate suspicious occurrences. However the move towards this kind of system will concern civil liberties campaigners which are against a move towards a CCTV state.

Several tests have already been made on a British Aerospace plane and a mock Airbus. Cameras will look out for suspicious behaviour such as more than one person going in to a toilet at the same time, agitated individuals, packages left unattended in the middle of crowds and people going against the flow of a crowd. Inside lavatories explosive sniffers will detect whether materials to make a bomb are being assembled and microphones can pick up any suspicious conversations – all of these will be analysed by a computer system and sent to the flight deck with the results for appropriate action to be taken.

The Department of Transport are not insisting that these systems be installed on all aircraft at the moment. The development for this technology is being funded by the EU Security of Aircraft in the Future European Environment (SAFEE) project but if used on aircraft, the aviation industry would have to pay for its deployment.

Please leave a comment with your opinions on this development; the blogs I wrote on the new body scanners being trialled at Manchester Airport certainly sparked some debate, see the original blog here.